Broken Tide is a narrative fishing adventure game we are currently developing at Off The Beaten Track. The game is set on the Baltic Sea in 1990s Northern Germany and combines fishing, exploration and mystery with a deckbuilding and tile-drafting system.
A central idea of the project is to make exploration itself part of the gameplay: instead of following a fixed map, players build their route across the sea during each expedition, deciding where to go and what to risk along the way.
The Idea
What if shaping the sea was part of the game itself?
The starting point for Broken Tide was a simple question: how can we make exploration more than just travelling across a map?
We wanted the player to actively shape their journey rather than simply follow a predefined route. This led us to the idea of a sea that is built piece by piece during each expedition.
The sea is divided into tiles. A card deck determines what can be found on those tiles, while the player decides which possible route to take. A fishing ground might offer a valuable catch, an island might contain a clue, and another route might lead somewhere the player would rather have avoided.
The deckbuilding system therefore isn’t just a progression mechanic. It is also a way of influencing what the player can encounter on the sea.
Before each expedition, players decide which cards to take with them. At sea, they use those cards to shape their route and react to what they find. Back on land, they sell their catch, improve their boat and prepare for the next trip.
We are interested in the tension this creates between planning and uncertainty: How much can the player prepare, and how much should remain unknown?
Our Approach
Broken Tide started as a concept that we developed and tested through research, game design and small prototypes. The project later received funding for its concept development through the “Landesprogramm Wirtschaft” by the state of Schleswig-Holstein, allowing us to develop the idea into a more substantial prototype.
During development, we have been exploring the game from several different perspectives.
Prototyping the Core Loop
We use prototypes to test whether the central loop of preparing a trip, exploring the sea, fishing, returning to shore and preparing for the next expedition is actually fun.
The deckbuilding and tile-drafting systems are particularly important here. We use prototypes to explore how much control players should have over their route and how much uncertainty makes exploration interesting rather than frustrating.
Building the World
We wanted the setting to feel specific rather than like a generic fictional fishing village. Broken Tide takes place in Northern Germany in the 1990s, drawing inspiration from the landscapes, small coastal communities and everyday atmosphere of the Baltic Sea.
The setting is also closely connected to the story and the way players explore the world.
Connecting Systems and Narrative
The mystery is not meant to sit separately on top of the gameplay. Fishing, exploration, resources, boat upgrades and encounters are all designed to contribute to the investigation.
The further players venture out to sea, the more opportunities they have to find clues, but also the more they have to manage their limited resources and the risks of going further from home.
The Experience
At the beginning of each day, the protagonist Henning prepares his next expedition.
He chooses the cards he wants to take with him, leaves the harbour and starts building a route across the sea. Each new section of the sea is drafted during the journey, meaning that the route is never completely known in advance.
Out on the water, players can fish, salvage wrecks, explore islands, collect resources and communicate with other fishermen over the radio. What they encounter depends partly on where they choose to go and partly on the cards they brought with them.
Eventually, they have to decide when it is time to return.
Back on land, the catch can be sold and the boat improved. New equipment allows Henning to venture further, while new cards open up different possibilities for future expeditions.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues.
What starts with a disappearance at sea gradually leads Henning further away from the quiet life he thought he knew. The more he explores, the more questions he finds.
What We Are Exploring
Broken Tide is still in development, so we are using the project to explore and test its core ideas rather than treating every system as final.
Some of the questions we are particularly interested in are:
- How much control should players have over the route they create?
- How can deckbuilding make exploration more interesting rather than simply making the player stronger?
- How do fishing and resource management support the mystery?
- How can we balance a relaxing fishing experience with an increasingly unsettling story?
- How can the setting of Northern Germany in the 1990s become part of the gameplay experience rather than just its backdrop?
These questions continue to shape the development of the game. For us, the project is particularly interesting as an exercise in connecting systems: the goal is not simply to create individual features such as fishing, deckbuilding or exploration, but to find ways for them to influence and strengthen each other.
Broken Tide is currently in development. We’re very fortunate and happy to have received funding for the prototype development of our next game through the “Landesprogramm Wirtschaft” by the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Namely, the program is called “Richtlinie des Landes Schleswig-Holstein für die Gewährung von Zuwendungen zur Förderung von digitalen Spielen“, funded by the european EFRE program.
If you would like to follow the project, you can find the game on Steam and add it to your wishlist.
